When I decided to go to China, one thing I wanted to do was visit a western province to see the contrast with eastern China. While I was trying to decide what province to tour, Yan, one of my friends in China suggested Yunnan. Her description of the province pretty much persuaded me to go there. Then when I was researching Yunnan I noticed an area call Shangri-La in the northern corner of Yunnan and I was hooked.
The name Shangri-La conjures up idealized, somewhat magical images from James Hilton's book, Lost Horizons, a place of eternal youth and tranquility. During my research though, I found out that there are many places in the Himalayans that claim this title, mainly for tourism reasons. The original name of this Shangri-La is Zhingdain County; see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shangri-La But my imagination was already engaged, I didn't care if there were other Shangri-La's out there. This would be mine.
Well I don't know if I found Shangri-La or not but I did have a very good time. It also changed my concept of what Tibetan people are like. My view had been of a very austere people who dressed in layers of plain somewhat drab clothing and did a lot chanting with Buddhist monks. What I found in Shangr-La was historically and currently Tibetans are very diverse. The Tibetans here presented a nomadic culture, rich in song and dance. The traditional costumes were made of brightly colored silk and animal hides.
The highlight of my stay here was dinner at a common house. We had roast Yak, Yak tea and other local foods. Along with the food was a lot of traditional singing and dancing by local performers usually followed by the cheer "yasoo yasoo ya ya yasoo, yasoo yasoo yeah!!!" and the downing of a jigger of "wine". Actually the "wine" was 80 to 100 proof barley whiskey. Also as the singers sang, people would take these thin silk like scarves and place them around the singers neck.
The signing and was great as in much of Asian signing they would reach the upper reaches of the vocal range but their middle and low range was very melodic. The following link is of a Naxi singer but the singing is very similar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-b7heJYFpc&feature=related. The dancing was also fun. Here is a Youtube video I found if the same group http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvDrqVi9WpI&feature=related If the guy in the red coat looks like he is saving his energy, he is, in a solo performance he started doing barrle turns around the pole and went around the pole three timed doing these turns.
I even danced a couple of times during the group dances. During the last group dance I noticed another tour bus pushing their tour guide over towards me. So I took the hint and started dancing with her. She was a good dancer and I was having a great time until I noticed everyone had stopped dancing was watching us dance. Then I got really self conscious and stopped. I should have just kept on going.
There are some photos still to come.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Lijiang
Lijiang was one of the highlights of my stay in China. It was my base while in Yunnan Province, taking tour buses to different sight in the north part of the province. I stayed in Lijiang's Old Town which was restored back to its original state after an earthquake in 1996 destroyed much of Lijiang.
In restoring Old Town, they use materials and techniques of the traditional Naxi ethnic group which resides there. Most buildings are made of wood, they are two storied with a central court yard around which family life was centered. Intricate carved wood is use though out the house. The window screens on the houses are a lattice work of wood or even more impressively made up of carved birds, flowers and animals.
The layout of Old Town flows around three canals. The water is from the surrounding mountains and is crystal clear. The canals serve as the arteries of the city. They divide the town into sections and can help guide lost tourist through the maze of stone streets and alleys. Getting lost is all part of the package.
Lijiang is somewhat commercial but not to the point of loosing its authenticity. Most things sold are hand crafted and relate at least tangentially to the culture. The restaurants all seem to have some local dishes, which have some similarity to Sichuan cuisine.
My guide in Lijiang, Li Shuang, was the best guide I encountered in China. His English was good, his knowledge of the culture was great and he seemed to understand Westerns. In fact he had many ex patriot friends in Old Town. He very good at arranging my accommodations (see photos of my hotel) and making sure I connected with my other tour guides and transportation. The last evening I was there he took a Ming Huang, physicist living Oxford England originally from China, to one of the bars/restaurants.
The bars in Old Town are very interesting. Many have entertainment on the first floor and on the second floor the windows can be opened to the canal and street below. From these balconies patrons in one bar will sing a song to the patrons across the canal, who will answer back with a song. The songs get more out of tune and shorter as the night rolls on. This is due mostly to, some surprisingly good, 100 proof "wine".
In restoring Old Town, they use materials and techniques of the traditional Naxi ethnic group which resides there. Most buildings are made of wood, they are two storied with a central court yard around which family life was centered. Intricate carved wood is use though out the house. The window screens on the houses are a lattice work of wood or even more impressively made up of carved birds, flowers and animals.
The layout of Old Town flows around three canals. The water is from the surrounding mountains and is crystal clear. The canals serve as the arteries of the city. They divide the town into sections and can help guide lost tourist through the maze of stone streets and alleys. Getting lost is all part of the package.
Lijiang is somewhat commercial but not to the point of loosing its authenticity. Most things sold are hand crafted and relate at least tangentially to the culture. The restaurants all seem to have some local dishes, which have some similarity to Sichuan cuisine.
My guide in Lijiang, Li Shuang, was the best guide I encountered in China. His English was good, his knowledge of the culture was great and he seemed to understand Westerns. In fact he had many ex patriot friends in Old Town. He very good at arranging my accommodations (see photos of my hotel) and making sure I connected with my other tour guides and transportation. The last evening I was there he took a Ming Huang, physicist living Oxford England originally from China, to one of the bars/restaurants.
The bars in Old Town are very interesting. Many have entertainment on the first floor and on the second floor the windows can be opened to the canal and street below. From these balconies patrons in one bar will sing a song to the patrons across the canal, who will answer back with a song. The songs get more out of tune and shorter as the night rolls on. This is due mostly to, some surprisingly good, 100 proof "wine".
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Tiger Hill (Suzhou)
The second day I spent in Suzhou we went to Tiger Hill, with its millennium-old leaning Yunyan Pagoda. Tiger Hill is more of a history park rather than a garden. It has several historical memorials and at it's base is a small village that depicts the traditional scenes of ancient China. On the actual hill part is where the tomb of the founding father of Suzhou, King He Lu (600 BC) lies. He is supposed to be buried with his 3000 swords. The name Tiger Hill came about because a white tiger showed up just after it was finished to guard the tomb. To keep the exact location of the tomb a secret the 1000 workers were killed by a large flat rock, appropriately titled the 1000 Men Rock. The rock has red stains in it, supposedly from the blood of these men.
Mountain Villa at the bottom of the hill has several life size diorama depicting life of historical China. It also has some scenes of everyday life beautifully etched into both marble and glass. One of fun things that happened while on Tiger Hill was being asked to have my picture taken with some visitors who were from Nanjing. The only reason being was because I was a Mei Guo Ren, (an American). Later on in the Mountain Villa I ran into the same group, so we all shared a canal boat ride. Unfortunately I didn't find out until the end of the ride that the oars' person would have sung us a song for 10 yuan, just like a Vienna gondolier, only in Chinese of course.
Mountain Villa at the bottom of the hill has several life size diorama depicting life of historical China. It also has some scenes of everyday life beautifully etched into both marble and glass. One of fun things that happened while on Tiger Hill was being asked to have my picture taken with some visitors who were from Nanjing. The only reason being was because I was a Mei Guo Ren, (an American). Later on in the Mountain Villa I ran into the same group, so we all shared a canal boat ride. Unfortunately I didn't find out until the end of the ride that the oars' person would have sung us a song for 10 yuan, just like a Vienna gondolier, only in Chinese of course.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Suzhou Gardens
My trip to Suzhou was very interesting I learned many new things about traditional Chinese aesthetics and history. My guide was Yueqin. She did not speak a lot of English and I speak even less Chinese but never the less with the help of a phrase book and a lot of pointing we were able to understand each other. In the end she was able to give me a good understanding about the design of these gardens. I got a lot out of this trip and I would really like to go back in the summer or fall, sometime, to see these gardens again with all of their greenery.
Yueqin was camera shy and wouldn't let me take her picture so I can only show you the gardens, not the guide. All I can do is thank her for doing such a good job guiding me.
The Chinese aesthetic is very intriguing. I enjoyed how interconnected everything was. The gardens moved you from light to shadow, from cool to warm or summer to spring, winter or fall. The layering of textures at times relax your thoughts then gently startle you awake with a surprise. Even though it was the end of winter and few things were blooming the shapes of the plants intermingled with the rocks, buildings, and stone pathways was beautiful.
Everywhere in the gardens it seemed that earth, water and space had equal importance. Even when on of these classical elements dominated the scene. To bad modern developers can't seem to grasp this concept. I hope you enjoy the slide show(There are more photos of Suzhou to come)
Yueqin was camera shy and wouldn't let me take her picture so I can only show you the gardens, not the guide. All I can do is thank her for doing such a good job guiding me.
The Chinese aesthetic is very intriguing. I enjoyed how interconnected everything was. The gardens moved you from light to shadow, from cool to warm or summer to spring, winter or fall. The layering of textures at times relax your thoughts then gently startle you awake with a surprise. Even though it was the end of winter and few things were blooming the shapes of the plants intermingled with the rocks, buildings, and stone pathways was beautiful.
Everywhere in the gardens it seemed that earth, water and space had equal importance. Even when on of these classical elements dominated the scene. To bad modern developers can't seem to grasp this concept. I hope you enjoy the slide show(There are more photos of Suzhou to come)
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Nanjing Friends
I really enjoyed my time in Nanjing. Shao Long and Fan Yi introduced me to the city's rich and inspiring history. The city has a wonderful mixture of contemporary architecture mixed in with historic buildings and some very nice small parks to compliment the Zhongshan Scenic Area. One thing I enjoyed about the current layout of the city is that the city is on a human scale. You don't feel overshadowed by too many tall buildings; there is enough space between the tall buildings that you can actually see the architecture from the street level. I will put up some photos of the city in later posts.
But for this post I want to introduce my friends, both those I met at UMSL and new friends I met in Nanjing, who were so generous to me. Shao Long helped me get from place to place. Without him I would have been lost. Plus, he took me to the Presidential Palace, where I learned about Dr Sun Yat-Sen, the founder of modern China. Fan Yi also helped me with logistics, plus walked me all over the Zhangshan Scenic Area. It is a beautiful park, but I would recommend seeing it in several trips. There is so much to see.
I would like to make a special note about Dong Yan's sister, Dong Jing, and her family. I stayed in their apartment while I was in Nanjing. They were such gracious hosts. Dong Jing and her husband Gan Shaojun always made sure I had everything I needed before they went off to work. Dongdong, their son, let me use his room while I was there. Then there was Gan Shaojun's mother who served me such "haochi" (delicious) food while I was there. They were wonderful hosts and a great family. I can't thank them enough.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Locomoting in China
Getting from one place to another in China is an interesting process. When I first got here it seemed very chaotic, people were always bumping into you. Bikes, scooters, cars, and buses seemly used any part of the street they felt like to get where they were going. Taxis seem to be terror on wheels; weaving in and out of traffic, coming within microns of anyone in an intersection and honking at anything in their way.
But as I moved around I realized there was an order to movement here. Some of the things I have noticed is; that with all the chaos I only seen one accident here and those demon taxi actually do stop or at least pause momentarily if they can't get around a pedestrian or vehicle. Then on this tour I just took to Yunnan; I notice that the tour bus drivers (which are the kings of the road in tourist areas) actually did seem to care about others' well being when they drove. Plus I did not see much show of anger on the roadway which happens a little too often in the US.
Although I don't claim to understand traffic here and I have no desire to try to drive in China (actually I really don't like driving, much, anyway), I have made some observations.
The main thing that puts order into this mess is; in general everyone wants to move forward, not just in the literal sense; but as a nation. A lot of things have to get done. So to feed, clothe and shelter a nation of 1.3 billion people things have to move at a steady pace. If someone wants to dawdle then they need to move to the sidelines and there ARE sidelines here; where people can rest, get their barrings and even reflect. Of course this and some of other observations I have made on traffic flow here, still does not make it any easier to get from one location to another, but at least I don't get too upset while trying to get there.
By the way, David Henry the person who has uploaded my journal enteries to my blog is going to traveling himself soon, to France with his, so my entries may stop for a while until I come back to the US. I am not sure when he won't have time to post things for me, though. Just don't be surprised when the entries stop until the 21st. So thanks David and bon voyage to you and your family.
But as I moved around I realized there was an order to movement here. Some of the things I have noticed is; that with all the chaos I only seen one accident here and those demon taxi actually do stop or at least pause momentarily if they can't get around a pedestrian or vehicle. Then on this tour I just took to Yunnan; I notice that the tour bus drivers (which are the kings of the road in tourist areas) actually did seem to care about others' well being when they drove. Plus I did not see much show of anger on the roadway which happens a little too often in the US.
Although I don't claim to understand traffic here and I have no desire to try to drive in China (actually I really don't like driving, much, anyway), I have made some observations.
The main thing that puts order into this mess is; in general everyone wants to move forward, not just in the literal sense; but as a nation. A lot of things have to get done. So to feed, clothe and shelter a nation of 1.3 billion people things have to move at a steady pace. If someone wants to dawdle then they need to move to the sidelines and there ARE sidelines here; where people can rest, get their barrings and even reflect. Of course this and some of other observations I have made on traffic flow here, still does not make it any easier to get from one location to another, but at least I don't get too upset while trying to get there.
By the way, David Henry the person who has uploaded my journal enteries to my blog is going to traveling himself soon, to France with his, so my entries may stop for a while until I come back to the US. I am not sure when he won't have time to post things for me, though. Just don't be surprised when the entries stop until the 21st. So thanks David and bon voyage to you and your family.
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